argumentativeness

Tendency toward contention

Argumentativeness is a tendency to argue or dispute, especially over minor points.

The quality suggests someone who picks fights or challenges statements reflexively rather than letting things pass: His argumentativeness made every family dinner exhausting.

It carries a negative connotation—being argumentative is rarely a compliment.

combative

quarrelsome

Inclined to dispute

truculent · antagonistic · confrontational · aggressive · hostile · provocative · disputatious · bellicose · irascible · cantankerous

contrarian

dissent

Disagreement with authority

naysaying · gainsaying · objection · challenge · critique · refutation · rebuttal · negation · doubt · cynicism

disagreement

dispute

Verbal clash over differences

quarrel · bickering · squabble · wrangle · altercation · friction · contention · feud · strife · clash

debate

dialectics

Reasoning through contradiction

disputation · cross-examination · rebuttal · deliberation · forensics · discourse · reasoning · logic · proposition · counterpoint

persuasion

rhetoric

Art of persuasive language

persuasive · suasion · advocacy · cajoling · coaxing · reasoning · appeals · inducement · lobbying

stubbornness

obstinate

Firmly refusing to yield

uncompromising · headstrong · adamant · willful · mulish · bullheaded · obdurate · tenacious · dogged · pertinacious

Categories
Opposites
interpersonal disposition toward conflict

argumentativenessagreeableness

Pleasant, cooperative nature

peacefulness · compliance · docility · acquiescence · amenability

conversational manner

argumentativenessagreement

Shared position between parties

cooperativeness · diplomacy · tactfulness · accommodation · amiability

communication style

argumentativenessagreement

Shared position between parties

diplomacy · tactfulness · nonconfrontation · acquiescence · deference

Family

argue, argument, arguing, argued, arguments, argumentative, argues, arguable, arguably

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G